JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered its holdings in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP - Free Report) by 14.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,637,991 shares of the company's stock after selling 437,041 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 0.50% of American Electric Power worth $243,302,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in American Electric Power during the fourth quarter valued at about $220,983,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of American Electric Power by 109.5% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,753,250 shares of the company's stock worth $385,079,000 after buying an additional 1,962,125 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 26,902,755 shares of the company's stock worth $2,760,223,000 after acquiring an additional 1,114,954 shares in the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management bought a new position in shares of American Electric Power during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $80,207,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in American Electric Power by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 51,690,606 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,767,425,000 after acquiring an additional 763,813 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.24% of the company's stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AEP shares. Scotiabank downgraded American Electric Power from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $105.00 to $102.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $102.00 target price (down from $109.00) on shares of American Electric Power in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim raised American Electric Power from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of American Electric Power from $108.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of American Electric Power from $107.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $100.77.
Get Our Latest Report on American Electric Power
American Electric Power Stock Performance
NASDAQ AEP traded down $4.63 on Friday, reaching $104.48. 7,367,841 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,107,684. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $79.16 and a fifty-two week high of $110.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market cap of $55.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.43. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $103.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $99.26.
American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.24. American Electric Power had a return on equity of 11.27% and a net margin of 15.08%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.23 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.
American Electric Power Announces Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 10th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.56%. American Electric Power's dividend payout ratio is presently 66.43%.
About American Electric Power
(
Free Report)
American Electric Power Company, Inc, an electric public utility holding company, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity for sale to retail and wholesale customers in the United States. It operates through Vertically Integrated Utilities, Transmission and Distribution Utilities, AEP Transmission Holdco, and Generation & Marketing segments.
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